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Category: Collaboration

See a behind the scenes look at the new works being created at the Preston Singletary Studio.

Recently the Preston Singletary Studio was pleased to host artist Jody Naranjo, a leading Pueblo potter from New Mexico, to work on their second collection of collaborative blown glass pieces. Dante Marioni was also present to help in this collaborative endeavor.

These unique pieces will be presented at Blue Rain Gallery in Santa Fe, NM this fall. Check back on our Calendar as we announce exhibition details for these pieces in the upcoming weeks.

Learn about the band Khu.éex’ that Preston Singletary co-founded and plays bass with.

Khu.éex’

Did you know that Preston Singletary also plays bass in a band? Khu.éex’ (pronounced koo-eex) translates to “Potlatch” in the Tlingit language, a Native group from Southeast Alaska. Khu.éex' focuses on the concept of sharing culture, stories, and music, by presenting a contemporary interpretation of our culture to empower others.

Tlingit tribal member Preston Singletary founded this unique collaboration with major musicians including the legendary late Rock and Roll Hall of Fame composer and performer Bernie Worrell, Skerik collaborator with Pearl Jam, Stanton Moore of Galactic, Captain Raab of Red Earth, and tribal members Gene Tagaban, Nahaan, the late Clarissa Rizal, and more local musicians.

Catch Khu.éex' perform in Seattle at the Upstream Music Fest in June and stay tuned of upcoming projects and the official release of their third record, “Héen” at www.khueex.com

In late December the Preston Singletary Studio was pleased to host visiting artists Djambawa Marawili and Gunybi Ganambarr, along with Kade McDonald (Hanging Valley) from Australia. The artists collaborated on several unique glass pieces during their week-long visit.

In late December the Preston Singletary Studio was pleased to host visiting artists Djambawa Marawili and Gunybi Ganambarr, along with Kade McDonald (Director of Hanging Valley) from Australia. The artists collaborated on several unique glass pieces during their week-long visit.

Preston Singletary met Ganamburr in 2015 when Singletary visited Australia while taking part in a cultural exchange hosted by the United States Embassy. While touring the country they forged a connection and planned on having the Australian artists visit Seattle in the future.

Djambawa Marawili is known as a leader in of the Madarrpa Clan as well as a renowned artist. His art resides in several museum collections and he is recognized as an activist in his community. Marawili works in several mediums including “sculpture, bark painting and linocut, Marawili also produced the first screenprint image for the Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Printspace”.

Gunybi Ganambarr is noted for his innovative work with found materials. The Australian wrote; "When Ganambarr was a young man, senior Yolngu artists recognized his ability and ensured he had the skills and knowledge to create the extraordinary bark paintings on show. These wonderfully complex and technically brilliant barks sit alongside new works that exploit the potential of materials found around mining sites. Using the layered webs of lines fundamental to traditional Yolngu painting and the incising of lines that characterizes Yolngu carving, he has reclaimed the insulation panels and rubber belts discarded by miners and transformed them into panels that combine traditional image-making with an enhanced sense of visual depth and tangible space. Ganambarr's work epitomizes the innovative and exploratory nature of contemporary Aboriginal arts practice.” Ganambarr ‘s work has also been exhibited at the Seattle Art Museum.

This recent meeting between all of the artists to the Preston Singletary Studio focused on exploring different mediums, learning the glassblowing and design process, and working on new pieces collaboratively, the first of which is titled "Warrukay".

Preston Singletary founded this one-of-a-kind collaboration with major musicians including the legendary late Rock and Roll Hall of Fame composer and performer Bernie Worrell of Parliament/Funkadelic and Talking heads, Skerik collaborator with Pearl Jam, Stanton Moore of Galactic, Captain Raab of Red Earth, and tribal members Clarissa Rizal, Gene Tagaban and Nahaan.

Tlingit tribal member Preston Singletary founded this one-of-a-kind collaboration with major musicians including the legendary late Rock and Roll Hall of Fame composer and performer Bernie Worrell of Parliament/Funkadelic and Talking heads, Skerik collaborator with Pearl Jam, Stanton Moore of Galactic, Captain Raab of Red Earth, and tribal members Clarissa Rizal, Gene Tagaban and Nahaan.

Khu.éex’ (pronounced koo-eex) translates to “Potlatch” in the Tlingit language, a Native group from Southeast Alaska. Singletary thought of the name Khu.éex' because of the notion of sharing culture, stories, and music. This is the intent of Khu.éex', to present a contemporary interpretation of our culture to empower others.

Following their debut album, The Wilderness Within", the second album “They Forgot They Survived” will be released on triple vinyl and was created at Avast Studio in Seattle with Randall Dunn (Engineer/Record Producer of the Cave Singers). This new album by Khu.éex’ features Great Northwest Native storytelling driven by the pulse of funk/rock beats. Stay tuned for updates about the future release of the second album by Khu.éex’.

Khu.éex’ is excited to announce that they have launched a Kickstarter campaign to help release the second album, “They Forgot They Survived” , after the successful debut album, “The Wilderness Within”. Be part of the first wave of support. Rewards for contributors include glass art by Preston Singletary, music, a chance to meet the band while sitting in during a live recording session and having your name listed in the album credits!

Khu.éex’ began with a chance meeting between Preston Singletary and the late Bernie Worrell through a campaign where Worrell was raising funds for a tour bus to bring the music to the people. Singletary invited Worrell to play at his birthday party, where Singletary sang Worrell a traditional Native song to welcome him. Worrell sat down at his keyboards and began improvising on the melody that was still lingering in the air. He created a spontaneous, psychedelic and soulful composition right on the spot that birthed a new direction in his music.

The next day Worrell asked Singletary’s band, “A Little Big Band” (a Native funk/soul band), to be the opening act for his show. After the concert Worrell shared with Singletary that he had several exciting ideas and that they should record together. An amazing union was formed.

Band Members

Bernie Worrell – Keyboards - (Cherokee) Worrell played with countless musicians, but most notably was the founding member of the legendary Parliament-Funkadelic. He previously played with the Talking Heads and had released many solo records over the years.

Preston Singletary – Bass - (Tlingit) Singletary has become synonymous with the relationship between European glass blowing traditions and Northwest Native art. He is involved with “A Little Big Band” a Native folk and soul band.

Captain Raab – Guitar - (Blackfoot) Raab has played in the band Red Earth, out of Albuquerque, which is a Native Funk rock band.

Clarissa Rizal – Vocals - (Tlingit) Rizal is a multi media artist and weaver who performs spoken word and sings traditional Native songs. Rizal has been essential in explaining the songs from a traditional context.

Gene Tagaban – Vocals - (Tlingit) Tagaban performs spoken word, traditional singing and storytelling, as well as playing flute. He is an influential storyteller, speaker, mentor and performer within the community.

Skerik – Saxophone- An avant-garde sax player who plays in notable projects including Critters Buggin, Garage a Trois and NW supergroup Mad Season.

Stanton Moore – Drums - An accomplished drummer based out of New Orleans, and has played with a wide variety of musicians. Moore is also noted as the founding member of Galactic.

Nahaan – Vocals - (Tlingit) A Tlingit speaker who has been dedicating his time to learning, composing songs and rhyming in the Tlingit language.

Randall Dunn - Producer, Audio Engineer - A highly respected producer who has worked with legendary jazz musicians such as John Zorn and Eyvind Kang.

An innovative exhibition of contemporary Alaskan art has arrived at the Château Musée Boulogne-sur-Mer in France.

An innovative exhibition of contemporary Alaskan art has arrived at the Château Musée Boulogne-sur-Mer in France. Organized by Alutiiq artist Perry Eaton, a large selection of works by twenty-nine contemporary Alaskan Native artists will enter the collection of the museum, one of the first collections of this type in Europe. The exhibition, titled "D'une culture a l'autre" — "From One Culture to Another", brought Preston Singletary to France as an artist included in the exhibit.

In Preston Singletary’s words:

“It was an amazing experience meeting scholars from around the world specializing in Alaskan Native "Artifacts". There were Anthropologists from France, Switzerland, Germany, UK, Finland, Russia, Denmark and other regions who are familiar with our Alaskan objects.

The group of artists showed them that we are still here and we created a dialogue about the collections and our ability to access them. We explained that we have critical knowledge, which can enhance their book knowledge of the objects. We gifted a collection of objects to show our good will, in order for them to see the contemporary perspectives we have, to view the new materials we work with and so they can come to understand us even better as contemporary Indigenous people.

It was a unique experience with an audience from around world who were interested in this continuum of our cultural art. If nothing else we turned a few heads. Thank you Perry Eaton for bringing us together and making this happen. I hope that this is just the beginning of the dialogue.”